Glass-holder



R. e. MITCHELL. GLASS HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.27, I92].

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

ROBERT e. MITCHELL, or MOUNT VERNON, new roan. 7

eLAss-HoLnEn.

menses.

To all i'uhom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT G. MITCHELL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Mount Vernon, Westchester "county, New York, have invented a new and useful Glass-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to holders for drinking cups or tumblers and the like. My object is to provide a simple andinexpensive holderinto which a glass may b easily 1nserted, and which cup when in place will be held firmly and yet in such a manner as to eliminate any danger of breakage due to improper or uneven pressure thereon.

Another object is to provide a holder l which may beeasily adjusted to fit cups of differentsizes and which to a large extent is, in fact, self-adjusting.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown my invention inone preferred form only, appreciating that various changes may be made without departure from the spirit andscope of the invention. I

lln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder, a tumbler being indicated in dotted outline. i

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the holder. Tig. 3 is a plan View thereof.

In the particular form of my invention shown, the holder is constructed from a 7 plain fiat strip of metal. I take such a Strip and slit it at one end and then spread apart the ends on each side of the slit and bend portions of said ends upwardly to form suportin arms for ltheforward or front side of the cup. The opposite end of the strip is bent up in such a manner as to form a combined handle and a third cup supporting arm for the rear side of said glass. These.

three supports cooperate to hold the cup in the manner shown. It will be noted that the free lower end of the third cup-supporting arm extends down into a plane below the top of the front supporting arms, so as to overlap the same; hence a cup will not be displaced by a mere rocking movement but must be withdrawn by a longitudinal slid-.

ing movement.

I Describing specifically the particular construction shown in the drawings, 1 represents the bottom of the holder. 2-2 represent the two upwardly proj ectingsupporting' arms for supporting the forward portion of the cup. 3 represents the grip portlon or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented m. is, 1921 Application filed April 27, .1921. Serial No. 464,984.

handle which projects upwardly from theback of the base 1. 4 represents the 7 third supporting arm for the rear of the cup. This arm projects downwardly from the upper end of the handle By reason of the "unique mounting of thearm 4 it is apparent that this member is capable of tilting or rocking so that itmay automatically adjust itself tobear with a substantially evenpres-- 'sure'throughout its length against the side of the cup. This arm l'therefore functions after the manner of a spring follower which tends to push the cup forwardly against the arms 2-2. By reason of the unique supporting arm construction, the pressure against the side of the cup is substantially uniform throughout the length of the arm, that is to say, thereis n0 tendency to grip the cup more tightly at thefbottom than at any point above the bottom, hence the darn ger ofglass breakage,-so common in holders base. is set back further from the axial center of the glass than the bends yg at the base of the arms 22. This results in a two fold advantage. First, it increases the effective supporting area of the base giving permits the holder to be adjusted toreceive *cu s of lar 'er diameter than the ones shown in the drawings. If a glass of larger diameter is to be employed, the user simply bends back the arm a sufficiently to aifordadequate'room for the larger glass. If desired, part of this room may be provided by bending back the handle 3 as well as the arm It follows that a manufacturer need "only great stability to the'holder, and again it make one size of holder for cups of quite aa variety of sizes. It is preferable that the base at its cornersa'yz should be bent down slightly so that the holder will rest on a table or counter on three points of support all spaced well apart. Bymy improve ment the grip 3 is of the long approved'and conventional formbest adapted to safe handling. The device has no projections or extensions of an awkward nature that tend to invite capsizing.

The device is easily adjusted to receive cups of different design by simply bending the supporting arms 2 2-4, so that they will conform approxi- ,7 the cross section of the rear supporting arm tion than the forward arms 2, the said third mately to the pitch of the sides of the cup,

that is to say, some cups have very little taper or flare, others havemore flare. 'The holder is very easily adjusted to these differences in cup design without the exercise of any special skill. When the holder is made from a single strip of metal, it will be noted that each of the forward arms 22 will be of a cross section equal to one-half of 4. It isobvious that if the armewas formed .at'the back of the base so as to project, up-

wardly therefromin a manner corresponding' to either of the arms 2-2, it would be i too rigid. By myconstruction, however, the flexibility of the'arm 4-is increased by reason of the fact that it does not project direotly up; from the base 1, but on the con trary,projects downwardly from the upper.

part of the flexible grip portion3, hence, eventhough the comblned grip andthird supporting arm are of a greater cross secarm is easily flexed by the cup and will not press againstthe latter unduly or with j any strain that tends to invite breakage.

of course to include any cup, receptacle or By the term cup. as used herein, I mean support which may be advantageously used with the holder, such as a receptacle for supporting-a paper cup. 7

I claim: j LA cup holder comprising a base,ztwo

- upwardly-projecting arms at theforward V upwardly projecting spaced spring armspart of said base arranged to engage the for Ward side of a cup, athird arm arranged to engage the rear side of a cup, said third arm overlapping the first-mentioned arms, and a support for ,said third arm extending up wardly from said base, said third arm being located between said support and said.

first-mentioned arms, the lower part of said third arm being free to flex to and fro.

2. A cup holdercomprising a base, means at the forward part thereof for engaging and supporting the front side of a'cup, a flexible handle projecting upwardly from the base at the rear thereof, and a third cup-' engaging arm connected to said handle ad jacent its upper end and extending downwardly in front thereof to engage the rear side of a cup, thelower end of said third aim being free to flex to and fro.

3. A cup holder comprising a base, two

at the forward part of said base arranged to engage a cup at its forward side, a handle of said handle and overlapping'the firstmentioned arms and located between said first mentioned arms and said handle. 7

4. A cup holder comprising a strip of metal forked at its forward end, the forked portions diverging at the base, the ends of said forked portions being bent upwardly to form supporting arms for the forward a side of a cup, the rear part of said stripbeing bent upwardly, forwardly and down-V wardly to a point below the tops of the firstmentioned arms and forming a 7 combined handle and third supporting arm for the rear of said cup and forward ofthe handle portion, all of said arms and said handle being yielding, the lower part of said third arm being free to flex to and fro.

5..A cup holder comprising a strip of 1 metal forked at its forward end,-the forked portions diverging at the base, the ends ofsaid forked portions being bent upwardly to form supporting arms'for'the. forward side of a cup, the rear part of said strip being bent upwardly, forwardly and downwardly to a point below the tops of the first mentioned arms and forming a combined handle and third supporting arm for the rear of saidcup and forward-of the handle portion, all of said arms and said handle beingyielding, the lower part of said third arm beingmovable to'and fro, the, bend at the lower end ofthe handle being moreremote from the axial center of the cup support proper than the bends at the foot of the upwardly projecting arms.

6. A cup holder comprising a base, two upwardly projecting arms at the forward part of said base, said arms being'free at their upper ends, and a handle projecting upwardly from the base at its rear and a third supporting arm projecting forwardly toward the two first-mentioned arms and downwardly from the upper part of said handle to a point below the tops of the firstmentioned arms, the lower part of said third arm being free to flex. 1 V

7. l holder of the character described, comprising a base formed of a strip of metal forked at one end, the forked ends diverging and being bent upwardly to form spaced supports for the front part of the cup, the

rear unforked portion of'said strip being bent upwardly to form a flexible handle, the

upper end of said handle portion being bent forwardly toward the front supporting arms and downwardly to form, a third-cup-supporting arm, thelower end of said last-mentioned arm projecting into a' plane-below the upper ends of the front supporting arms and being free to move bodily toand fro to operate as a spring follower to, press a cup forwardly against the two first-mentioned arms; I

8. A holder for drinking cups and'the like, comprising a base, an upwardly projecting arm or support for the front side-0f a cup, another upwardly projecting arm or support for the rear side of a cup, one of said supports being flexible and having its upper portion extended inwardly and downwardly and being free at its lower portion to form a flexible downward extension.

9. A holder for drinking cups and the like, comprising a base, an upwardly projecting arm or support for the front side of 10 a glass, and another upwardly projecting arm or support for the rear side of a glass, one of said Supports being flexible and having its upper portion extended inwardly and downwardly to form a flexible downward extension the lower part of which is movable to and fro, the upwardly projecting portion of the. last mentioned support being set back to form a handle.

ROBERT G. MITCHELL. 

